"Would you like to have a new robe?" asked Cold Maker.
"Yes," said Broken Bow.
"Come with me. You may kill two grizzly bears," said Cold Maker.
"My bow is broken. I cannot," said Broken Bow sadly.
"I will help you. Bring only a knife."
Together they went from the lodges toward the north. The sun was
already hidden behind the nearby hills.
After they had travelled some distance they heard the sound of
voices. They listened. Two bears were complaining that they wanted
meat. A woman told them they must wait. The men saw the line of thin
blue smoke rising from the top of the lodge of stone. All about
whitening bones covered the ground. They went nearer.
Soon an old woman, bent with age and crippled, came from the door
and smiled as she saw the two persons coming.
"Come in and rest," she said. Broken Bow did not understand her
language, but Cold Maker, who understands all tribes, said, "We are
cold. Will you let us sit by your fire?"
The old woman smiled again.
"You are welcome," she said; "come in. Do not fear my bears. They
are friendly. They will not harm you." The two friends entered the
lodge, where a smouldering fire sent a feeble smoke up to the smoke
hole, that was partly open. She put fresh wood on the fire and said,
"I will open the smoke hole wider," and went out, dropping the door
covering as she went.
Then she closed the smoke hole. The smoke began to fill the top of
the lodge. It settled lower and lower.
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